Silent Mistakes
by Mister Tesla
Summary: It could have been a mistake, to feel these ways and move so close; but right then it wasn't a mistake. It was need, because they needed each other. - Naoto/Heine


Water dripped from Naoto's elongated side bangs to her exposed collarbones. Her pale lips quivered from the freezing air and remaining rain drenched clothing that clung to her skin as she considered the events that lead to the current. On one of the rare occasions that she and Heine had traveled upside, the reason escaping her at the moment, it rained. Rained, or poured as she had heard people on the street say. They ran to find shelter, some place that would block the rain unlike the over casting roofs they tried to remain dry under. Along the way and after finding a neglected storage facility both had become drenched and shivering leading to an hesitated agreement to discard some clothing to avoid getting ill and to gather what of limited materials they could to stay warm.

A jacket there, a shirt here, eventually they were left wearing only their undergarments and shaking. They must have looked pitiful she mused glancing over toward him as he dug through boxes and containers seeking presumably blankets. She should have been doing the same, but her goose bump ridden body and discomfort of being exposed so much left her to try covering up with her slender arms. Nothing was said nor was anything lingered upon at much to her confusion and thankfulness.

"Found a blanket. You take it."

The melancholy voice broke her trance. Darkened eyes darted toward his voice and outreached offer of a green worn blanket even though his own body was shaking. Wet white hair fell before his blood tinted eyes and his lips were curved into a frown making him lose his usual feral look. With a few blinks in silence Naoto took the blanket and quickly wrapped herself keeping her eyes on his expression. A lower 'thank you' was given, but nothing was said in return from him.

Again he dug at the boxes as if more to preoccupy himself rather than seek warmth. She saw it, that distant look in his eyes and the way he was trying to disconnect himself from what was happening then. Her mouth opened to speak, but nothing came out. Naoto was at a loss on what to say, not that either of them truly spoke to begin with.

"You should have taken this one. You found it."

"No, you needed it more."

Heine's voice stayed distant, his hands prying open box after box. The bandages around his neck had grown limp, falling wayward and exposing pieces of his collar. Naoto pulled at the blanket now wrapped firmly around her watching him in his movements. Every so often she would open her mouth again to speak, but would soon close it thinking no words worth saying. Minutes past it felt like, him still looking keeping what little distance they had from each other. Then she spoke upon seeing him make a full circle in his searching.

"You've already looked there."

"Maybe I missed something."

A retort and one that lacked validity, Naoto knew there was nothing more to be looking for. The blanket currently keeping her warm was it and he probably knew it. Slowly she stood moving with hesitation and making plenty of sound to make her presence known. The worn green fabric of the blanket slid from her drier skin as she held it up as an offer.

"There isn't any more, you take this one at least till you dry off. I don't know if you can get sick, but I know you don't need to."

Her voice was firm, demanding even. He turned around at her approach, arms still hanging by his side. Far as he knew something like the weather couldn't get him ill, cold perhaps but ill was another realm.

"I don't need-"

"Take it"

Again Naoto spoke firmly, but her body had begun to shake in the oncoming chill. Lacking any self preservation she knew too well that he wouldn't take it unless she demanded he did. To her it was ridiculous, for claims of being unable to protect there were times he certainly did something like it as he was then, preventing her from getting cold.

"You're already shaking again, if you-"

"Then share it with me."

She cut him off and much to her surprise with an offer of sharing the blanket, warmth, and more significantly closeness. The idea didn't strike her as off until it left her pale lips, but it was too late to pull it back. Heine's reaction was about as she would have expected at such an offer. The distant look in his eyes growing like he was trying to remove himself from the scene and the issues pressing the both of them.

"I didn't mean to- I'm sorry."

Her eyes lowered, it wasn't mean to be cruel but for someone like Heine it must have been. To be reminded of what happened with the idea of touch, she couldn't imagine the gravity of it. Suddenly a tug was felt, faint but detectable. Naoto looked up seeing the surreal scene unfold before her. There he was pulling at the blanket weakly and stepping forward. Closer he got leaving barely anything between them. For a moment neither moved in their standing until she took lead by tugging the blanket toward to mats she had been sitting on.

The process was slow and gradual as not to suddenly touch without the other knowing, more so for him she knew. Things were whispered, minute reassurances on her part and pushing to home that sharing warmth was needed. Frankly Naoto didn't know if it really was needed as much as she proclaimed or if it was merely making something far worse than it was. Still he didn't speak or question at each tug and word as the look of distance in his red eyes faded.

"Lay down on your side, makes more room."

A more than obvious idea but spoken still as she crawled onto the thin mat waiting for him to follow. Naoto didn't think he would, that at that point he would back down and say he was fine; but he didn't. Bit by bit he moved with such hesitation that some steps were taken back twice before moving forward once. He kept his distance as he crawled onto the mat, barely brushing any of his skin to hers leaving the still lingering water droplets on him to her. A shiver left him on his way down and his eyes closed for she thought a try at calming himself.

She didn't speak at his movements and flinches. She knew why they were there, he had told them why and what past he had lived through to bring such things. Sympathy was thought of, but never given. Heine wouldn't take it, not from her and barely from Nill. Occasionally she saw them cut off from the rest of the word, his eyes closed and head leaned forward as the girl placed her hands on his neck. Whispers were spoken and never reached her ears, but she knew enough of what was said.

Her own narrowed eyes looked to his closed ones, much like they were with Nill. Questions sprouted, dangerous ideas and notions that part of her wanted to be true for some unexplained reason.

"Are you…alright?"

The inquiry broke the lengthened silence and Heine opened his eyes, blinking a few times as if puzzled. She didn't know what came over her, but whatever if was had been doing so ever since he offered the blanket to her. The emotion was almost foreign, something she only had the faintest idea of but had no name for.

"Cold."

A one word answer from him that seem to sum up how she felt as well. The air was chilled and the worn blanket didn't cover much concerning how far apart they were, even if the gap was only a few inches.

"You can…move closer."

Another extreme offer that made her bit her lip in uncertainty that it wouldn't be taken like that last one. A pull came to her chest as the words left and lingered in the air. The thing was she wanted him to move closer because she needed the comfort. It wasn't explainable much like the emotion that powered; nameless to her broken memories, an idea that was once there and left her. Everything that happened recently, it changed her. Perhaps it changed her too much. Seeing a figure from her own past come back, learning the tormented past of his, things piled up and although she hated to even think it; a shoulder was needed.

"It's okay, you can."

His eyes barely opened, nothing more than thin slivers that revealed the redness surrounding his pupils. There was hesitation much like his movements from before and it was to be expected once he did move. Nothing was said, always silent unless he had to speak. Inch by inch he closed in and before she knew it his chilled skin pressed to hers lightly. She shivered at the sudden pressure, but it soon passed as she found balance in the sharing of warmth.

Heine didn't push himself too close, faint as if not truly there. For Naoto there was no doubt that the act took a lot of effort that couldn't be seen on the serene surface he was maintaining. Shakes and shivers would hit his pale body every so often, but he wouldn't push or pull away. In fact he looked almost at peace feeding those crazed notions she felt.

Surely she didn't make him calmer, not like that. It was plain to see that there was nothing lost between them in how they felt, momentary allies that had grown to consider the other a friend; least a friend in what warped way they understood it. They didn't talk like normal people, but nothing about them was normal. It was perhaps why they eventually got along in the fact they could share the others company without resorting to conversations. Knowing someone was there in the same room meant more in some strange way and she was certain he felt the same.

But what was happening then, that moment; it wasn't the same. They didn't say anything about it nor would they, but it could be seen and felt. Need, the need for someone to be close. It wasn't something that could be easily done for either of them. Needing meant weakness and above all weakness was something they couldn't show outside.

Yet they weren't outside there. They were alone, cut off from the rest of the world by circumstances they couldn't control. In a way Naoto was remotely glad that it had rained and lead to this, a moment of closeness that one needed when things spiraled too far from control.

"Better?"

A short nod was given in response. Naoto finally let her own eyes close feeling the pull of sleep upon her. The time of day never crossed her, but the contentment felt placed her in such a state. Everything was already surreal and she could have been dreaming, but the shift in pressure and sudden weight on her shoulder said otherwise. She only opened her eyes for a moment to see if what she felt and thought was happening.

He had moved closer, head ducking under and resting on her lower shoulder in his curled up position. His hair was still damp and cold to her flesh, but no shiver came from her body at the change in temperature. Lacking the same hesitation from her other acts and offers; Naoto lifted her arm and laid it over his back pulling him to.

The notions she felt no longer felt wild, somehow she had comforted him and placed him at ease. It was a strange sensation to know that protecting was not only limited to holding her blade. It also meant bringing comfort to the damaged. With him closer it became easier to fall into rest, because she needed a shoulder just a badly. Nothing was said from that point on between them. Only the patter of raindrops and slowed breathing could be heard. It could have been a mistake, to feel these ways and move so close; but right then it wasn't a mistake. It was need, because they needed each other.


End file.
